The integration of cannabis into the society will have far-reaching impacts - not as a result of people consuming it, but as a result of people understanding it.
The emerging legitimate cannabis market and industry impacts the society, the culture, and the economy. As a writer, lobbyist, and policy wonk, Kate Cholewa offers a broad perspective for those both inside and outside the movement and industry.

The Alliance for Cannabis Science of CBD & THC

For the past two years, neither state statutes nor the market (patients) were imposing standards on the unexpectedly burgeoning medical cannabis and cannabidiol market place. The state statutes didn’t/don’t define parameters, standards, and systems for the new dynamics of the market. For example, anxiety and pain patients have no ability to shop around or compare the best CBD for anxiety and make informed consumer choices. The only pressure for standards came from those in the medical cannabis marketplace who thrive for excellence for the sake of excellence itself.

The Alliance for Cannabis Science represents such people.

The field of cannabis science and cannabis medicine has grown significantly in the past several years and while the Montana cannabis industry needs statutory infrastructure, that infrastructure needs to create a system and support standards and excellence, as opposed to imposing punishment on all and any patient, potential patient, or business who has participated. It’s true, some have not lived up to reasonable standards. Some probably aren’t even aware of what reasonable standards are.

What does it mean to do this well? – is the question the Alliance asks.

Policies that make it “harder” to be a patient or run a business don’t necessarily keep “fake patients” and bad business operators out. Policies directed at making functionality harder, but not better, serve to direct the efforts of bad actors within the industry at circumventing rules. With standards, effort, by necessity, must instead be directed towards high performance. Some will live up to standards of accountability, safety, and service. Some will not.

There will also be those who surpass the standards and become the leaders in the industry, setting the bar higher than the statutes.